Vocational Assessment Tools: Helpful Tools for Career Assessment

There are people who have many options for a career but they find it difficult to choose one over the other. There are others that are clearly undecided perhaps because of uncertainty or that they lack the confidence that they can succeed in that occupational career. Whatever reasons people may have on their indecision for a future career, they can seek help from psychologists or people-and-mind specialists who can provide them the right tools for vocational assessment.

There are various vocational assessment tools that people can utilize to help them bring into a decision that could help them mold their future and reach their goals. Normally, these tools are used with the help of vocational educators or specialists. A pyschometrician may also conduct vocational assessment testing with the use of one or more vocational assessment tools. The clinical psychologist normally provides psychological testing as well personality testing and career assessment.

Vocational assessment tools can have a varying range. Personality and intelligence testing can be seen as among the categories of vocational assessment tools. Interpersonal style and job interest testing are also included in the vocational assessment testing.

There are different products of vocational assessment tools. They include Myers- Brigg Type Indicator, Career Directions Inventory, Career Values Scale, Career Interest Profiler and General Aptitude Test Battery.


Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is one of the most widely-used personality tests tool. This is employed in educational, psychotherapy setting and vocational assessment. The personality inventory test is used for evaluating the personality type of teens and adults. It is conducted to individuals age 14 and older.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, or simply known as MBTI, was the work of Katharine C. Myers-Briggs and Isabel Briggs. They are mother and daughter team who introduced the test in 1942. Several versions of the personality inventory are available where the Form M is the most popularly used.

Another vocational assessment tool used by vocational specialists in conducting vocational counseling, occupational selection and vocational rehabilitation is the General Aptitude Test Battery. Utilized extensively in Canada, GATB is used to measure nine aptitudes. They include General Learning Ability, Verbal Aptitude, Numerical Aptitude, Spatial Aptitude, Form Perception, Motor Coordination, Finger Dexterity and Manual Dexterity. 12 separate tests are used in conducting this vocational assessment tool wherein there are four performance tests and eight paper and pencil tests.

Vocational assessment tools can also be found online. MAPP assessment, Keirsey personality testing and Career Directions Inventory are some of the tools which can be used by online users to test their personality and aptitude.

Vocational assessment tools may involve reports which can be seen as an evaluation and data gathering from the testing conducted.